Archive for the ‘Bride’ Category

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Monday’s new Moon falls on the astrological degree of Imbolc, a festival of light, which marks the half way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. There is a fiery combination of Uranus and Mars in Aries in this chart, which will wake up the earth for many of us this weekend and culminate at the new Moon on Monday.

photo: Sarah Fuhro

Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune are all in their favorite constellations, and have tight relationships with each other and the new Moon. The players in the sky are working together in a way that can inspire and encourage each of us to move through fear and into new realms of creative expression. It’s an opportunity, to envision and take the first steps towards exploring new territory, a moment of optimism and courage, just like the green shoots coming from the dark and silent seed.

Imbolc celebrates the goddess Bride. She is the Lady of healers and mid-wives, poets and artists, and black smiths and crafts folk. A triskelion of talents is available to each of us, if we trust in ourselves and her inspiration. It’s traditional to light nineteen candles at Imbolc, the number of the Sun, now returning to Northern lands. Cleansing is also part of this season when Bride meets us between snow and mud, sunshine and winter storms.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

And then there is the trio of well placed planets: Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Each brings a gift to this new Moon, a triskelion of delicious energy. Jupiter says: dream big, Saturn suggests work hard to make the dream into a material reality and Neptune takes the dream to the level of vision, something we might share with our community. Like Bride, they come at this sweet moment of the year to bring gifts to the new Moon in the sign of Aquarius where humanity is ready to evolve.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

A theme of fiery intensity heats up this chart, and makes the triskelion into a twirling wheel of fire. It is the fire of Aries, the chart ‘signature’ and the sign of Uranus and Mars who might be the kick start to our Jupiterian dream. Or we can experience Uranus and Mars as anger and impatience. Irritation will only increase the energy of Aries. Eris, the Lady of discord is also in Aries, cheek and jowl with Mars. If you feel chaotic instead of motivated and focused this weekend, take a minute to converse with this energy. To add to the intensity, Pluto who always knows what lies below the surface, is in a powerful square with the Aries players. Expect a challenge, or learn how to call upon this vitality.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. For an appointment call 508 652 9880 or email her at sarahfuhro@gmail.com. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present.

Silver and Gold, a Full Moon in Leo!

On the night the Moon was a tiny crescent in the sky, I had a dream. The dream was at dawn, and was a voice and big letters, which said: ‘Au’ and ‘Ag.’ Hey, I’m not a chemist, but those are the elemental letters for Silver and Gold! ‘Why,’ I asked the Dream guys, ‘do I need to remember the elemental letters for Silver and Gold?’ No answer.

Photo: Sarah Fuhro

Silver is the Moon, Gold is the Sun.

Last month the full Moon was in Cancer, the Moon’s sign. The metal of the Moon is Silver, Ag, Argentum This month the full Moon is in Leo, the Sun’s sign. Gold is the metal of the Sun, Au, Aurum, Gold.

And this is true at this season every year. Is this the year to awaken to the Silver and Gold of Cancer and Leo? Is this about Male and Female polarity? Is the Moon female, the Sun, male?

Not always.

Here is a picture of the lunar god Mên, worshipped in Asia Minor. He bears the crescents of the Moon on his shoulders, and treads the cow head of Taurus, a Moon loving zodiac sign under his horse’s hoofs. Was there a war between Male and Female lunar deities? Is there a war inside ourselves and perhaps in the evolution of culture that debates whether the Moon is male or female? It may be necessary for each of us to experience our interior self, our reflective self, our ever changing self as male and as female.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Below is a picture with a woman wearing a solar halo, and a man with crescent Moon horns.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier Hammond Castle

This Wednesday’s full Moon is a total eclipse of the Moon, a dramatic moment suitable to Leo, who loves theater. People often saw an eclipse as an attack on the Sun or Moon, a disappearance and reappearance of the light we live by night and day. We still experience this kind of anxiety at the time of an eclipse. It’s important to be aware of the eclipse cycle even if we can’t see it, because we can always feel it in our bodies and psyches.

This Leo Moon will also dramatically affect the tides of the ocean, because the Moon is close to the earth–a Super Moon. The Sabian Symbol for the eclipse says it very clearly: ‘A pageant, with its spectacular floats, moves along a street crowded with cheering people.’ Something, carefully planned is coming together to be expressed on a huge stage. It’s the season of Mardi Gras! This Lunar Eclipse has that feeling of unlimited excess, followed by a truth we already know. The feasting of Mardi Gras is followed by Ash Wednesday, and the traditional forty days of fasting.

The Moon and the asteroid Ceres (Demeter, Earth goddess) are in a perfect conjunction at this moment. Demeter’s grief for her stolen child, Persephone, gave us the seasons. This year, the Leo full Moon is situated close to the festival of Imbolc, Candlemass, Groundhog’s Day, February 2. For those of us who search for a way to reconnect to the rhythms of the earth and sky, Imbolc is the time to gather and embrace the growing light. At Imbolc, the light is a crack in the darkness of winter. Imbolc is sacred to the goddess Bride, mid-wife, poet and black smith. When the doctor told me, my baby would be born on February 2nd, I was ecstatic. My son showed up on that sacred day, and, fortunately, did not see his shadow!

Here, in the frozen or muddy North, we know the light of candles reflected in melting snow has divinatory power. Winter is not over in the North, but is touched by the Sun’s return.

photo: Sarah Fuhro

Silver and Gold, Sun and Moon, light and dark play out in our lives, moment by moment. What illumination will this Sun/Moon moment hold for you? Wednesday’s total Lunar eclipse is the balance to the total Solar eclipse in Leo last August. Hold a moment to honor the ritual of this cosmic and earth time. It is like a heart we can hear beating in our throats.

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

New Moon in Monkey

The Celebration of the Yang Fire Monkey Year begins with the new Moon on February 7th. This picture says a lot about how a monkey would celebrate a new Moon in the sign of Aquarius. There’s that ever present technology, which has changed our way of interacting with one another as we enter the ‘Aquarian Age.’

Aquarius is a constellation in the zodiac with two ‘rulers, ‘ Saturn and Uranus. Both are very active in this chart. Rulers give a clue as to the nature of the energy for the signs. Aquarius has a Saturnic, i.e., manifesting talent, but unlike the previous sign, Capricorn, also ‘ruled’ by Saturn, Aquarius is more likely to create something in a new way or new realm. Saturn, as ruler of Aquarius is influenced by the quirky and revolutionary nature of Uranus. He’s not his Capricorn solid and traditional self. It’s as true with planets as it is with humans that our companions change our rhythms viewpoint.

Saturn in the chart for this new Moon is working in Sagittarius and makes a sextile to the luminaries (Sun and Moon). He is watching them from a Sagittarian vantage point, perhaps suggesting that this is a time for asking what we carry as belief. When our beliefs become too Saturnic our life can turn into a burden of responsibility and ‘shoulds.’ We can no longer see any potential for new perceptions.

The IX of Wands has a picture of this state of affairs. This man has successfully fought off all attacks and has neatly arranged the trophies of his victories in a protective wall around him. Yet the protective wands keep out friends as well as enemies. He is waiting for the next attack, rather than looking for new possibilities. He might need to add some of the hospitable warmth of the IX of Cups to his expectations. Maybe we could all learn to forget the source of our bruises and focus on generosity at this new Moon.

The Sabian Symbol for Saturn’s degree at this new Moon day is quite astonishing! It refers to the festival of Imbolc, which is traditionally celebrated on February 2nd, just a few days before: ‘The Ground Hog Looking for his Shadow on Ground Hog Day, February 2nd! ‘

Imbolc Sarah Fuhro

Full Moon is buried in our lungs.

She breathes with us.

Heart beats in a hurry

to keep in time,

with the passage of sweet fog.

The cold air fills and empties

the magic chest,

treasure box held within,

the holy ghost, the spirit place,

the temple, the toolbox,

the home sweet home.

The White Lady draws nigh,

twilight fills in her footsteps.

Feel her furry breath,

as she approaches.

She leaves muddy tracks

in the new snow,

and promises that someday,

one day,

when she consents, spring will be here,

hot, with chill overtones.

Soundless, the Lady is the moss under crystal,

thin February glass on small ponds.

She is the bird of early arrival,

the fox, as he leaves his lair

to venture forth

on a cold morning

with breakfast in mind,

after long hunger.

Uranus is also making a friendly sextile to Sun and Moon. This means Saturn and Uranus, the planetary rulers of Aquarius are in trine; they share the Fire element, but express it quite differently. Fire from the Jungian point of view is the element of intuition. It jumps from place to place, and cannot be contained.

Uranus is the unexpected part of Aquarius, the far out aspect. Uranus is in Aries and so we know his nature is fiery as well as unpredictable. He’s hanging out with the virginal Vesta. This may be one reason the stock market is so erratic. Vesta seems to have some connection to the way we handle money and ‘investments.’

Uranus goads the new Moon (and the Sun) to put some passion into those Sagittarian beliefs Saturn is channeling for us. The Star, is the Tarot Card associated with Aquarius. This collage version is from the Voyager deck by James Wanless.

Aquarius is the sign of a universal or group kindness. There a promise of great healing in this moment of the new Moon in Aquarius. Jupiter and Chiron are in opposition across the Lunar Nodes’ axis. Each of us has the opportunity to find a place to offer kindness to a world in pain. Kuan Yin is the light within, the source of universal compassion.

Sarah Fuhro

sarahfuhro@gmail.com.

Keeping our Ancient Wisdom Alive

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

The Rowan tree celebrates the festival of Imbolc (Ground Hog’s Day, Candlemass Day) and offers us the protection of her pentacle on each berry. The birds are grateful for these berries, and feed on them until spring comes with new food.

The full Moon in Leo is the opportunity to feel our own creative power, balanced with the needs and creativity of the community (Aquarius Sun). This particular full Moon is in the company of Jupiter, who expands the already generous and creative energy of the Leo Moon. This warms and stimulates the cool, airy Sun and retrograde Mercury in Aquarius. Traditionally, Sun in Aquarius is considered diminished because he is opposite the Sun’s home sign, Leo. And, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, his rays are feeble during Aquarian days in January and February. Yet when Aquarian Sun and Leo Moon face one another, as they will this Tuesday there is an excitement and growing sense of light and heat returning! Aquarius Sun/Leo Moon dazzles with new ideas, innovation. Jupiter with the Moon and Mercury with the Sun increase the desire to communicate in a generous way.

This year the Rowan full Moon takes place during the celebration of Imbolc, one of the most important holidays in the Druid’s calendar. This is a celebration of the goddess Bride, midwife, healer, poet and smith. It is a holiday dedicated to feminine energy, but on a very wide spectrum. Perhaps, since this celebration takes place during the time Aquarius, a masculine, but androgynous sign, we can better understand ‘the feminine’ as a symbol of humanity.

Dorothy McLean, one of the founders of Findhorn speaks for the Snowdrop in her Seeds of Inspiration:

I am glad that you have to contact, mfor although my forces here are tenuous, the contact is one that I am glad to renew……A tender regard from humans means much in our worlds.

Imbolc means ewe’s milk. At this time lambs are born in the dark barn of winter. The Snowdrop pushes her way through the snow to celebrate this turning point in the year, when we at last begin to collect daylight with later sunsets and earlier sunrise. Imbolc is the chance to give thanks for a glimpse of faraway spring, it’s Groundhog Day, and winter is on the way out the door.

Here’s my Imbolc poem!

Imbolc

The Full Moon is buried in our lungs,

she breathes with us. Our heart’s in a hurry

to keep up with the passage of sweet air

as it fills and empties from the magic chest

held within, the holy ghost, the spirit place

the toolbox, the home sweet home.

The White Lady draws nigh,

evening comes later. Feel her

breath as she approaches,

leaves muddy footprints in the new snow,

and promises that someday, one day

spring will be here, hot, with chill overtones.

Soundless, she is the moss under crystal,

treasure of February glass on small ponds,

a bird of early arrival, the fox,

as he leaves his lair to venture forth

on a cold morning with breakfast

in mind after long hunger.

Uranus in Aries makes a fiery trine to the Moon and a helpful sextile to the Sun. He continues to square Pluto and we continue to feel the déjà vu of issues fought out in the late sixties when these two were in conjunction. Mars and Chiron are sextile to Pluto and Ceres and they form a Yod to the Moon-Jupiter combination. A Yod is a finger of energy focused upon a point in the chart where we might overlook the significance of a planet(s) placement. This Yod furthers the powerful drive towards a shift in consciousness, which must occur in each of us if we are to imagine, and then manifest, beyond dualism towards unity. . The challenge of this time is in Rumi’s famous quote: ‘Out beyond ideas of wrong and right, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.’

Leo rules the heart and the spine, love and courage, Aquarius, the ankles and the circulation system, support and movement within. Aquarius moves our perceptions beyond gender, race or nationality. As we enter the ‘Age of Aquarius,’ which lasts around two thousand years, we see a deep shift from the duality of two sexes to a spectrum view of male and female. Our culture’s change of view on gay, lesbian and trans gender realities is a reflection of this. Leo gives the joyful experience of self-acceptance and full expression. We are about to experience our own creativity as it intertwines with the larger Aquarius/Leo experience.

This is a very old lunar calendar. But a newer version, the 2015 Lunar Calendar is still available at www.thelunapress.com

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.